December??

In the classroom we talk about "heavy work" for those kids who need a little sensory input or require exercise for those busy bodies. I thought of this a good number of times today as these little boys of mine lifted and carted the heaviest rocks they could to build cairns. They were obsessed with "stabilizing" the towers, and insistent that big rocks were the only way to go.

All was well until one little piggy got pinched between two of those large rocks. A brave boy, there were no tears shed and he endured a mile long hike back to the car before we fished out the icepack.

All and all it was a good day off.

Xmas Tree Hunting 2016

Our tree before his? her? relocation to our living room. It didn't look too big out in the wild.

Another trip into the woods with good friends, and another year without snow. These kids kill me, the speed at which they grow and change, yet some things remain the same. The kids flock to the piles of rocks and find the very best hiding trees, they run wild, as children should, and the youngest in our family would not cooperate for a family pic (go figure!).

Happy winter!

decking the halls

Outside of restringing our lights from their summer position (draped over the outdoor table) to their winter position (outlining the roofline of the wraparound porch) the house doesn't always get a winter "look". We decorate inside, which amounts to putting up a tree and stockings, and usually call it done. This year, armed with reinforcements (hello mama and papa), and a week off at Thanksgiving, the house is dressed for winter. 

These cuties were inspired by this pin. 

Winterizing

All fall our weekends look about the same.

Out in the woods, collecting wood.

This year we tried something new. We hoarded and stockpiled until we had a rather impressive haul. Check out that leg wound.

Then we invested in a log splitter rental for a day. What a difference! We plowed through our pile (which outgrew the "trophy" picture above) in a matter of hours.

sledding

Our first real sledding adventure of the season was this past weekend. We weren't prepared, as in we didn't bring sleds with us, since we didn't think that it was the actual activity of the day. But then there was this hill, and two enormous pieces of cardboard. What were these two sled-loving boys to do? 

It was hysterical and charming and filled with giggles and belly laughs.